A Publication of the University of Dallas Drama Department
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OnStage A Publication of the University of Dallas Drama Department 1 ONSTAGE Welcome to the first edition of OnStage, a Table of Contents new way for you, our audience, to engage more deeply with the productions of the drama department. OnStage will be published 3 The Life and Times of Mary once a semester and you can look forward to coverage which highlights our plays Stuart in performance with a focus on our major production each semester. My hope is 5 Tudor Timeline that OnStage will offer you a rich opportunity to enlarge and expand the ways in which we can interact with each other centered on the dynamic productions on 6 Coffee with the Queens our stages! 8 Cast and Characters 10 The Life of Friedrich Schiller Our first issue focuses on the fall 2015 mainstage, Mary Stuart, Schiller’s stunning 11 Modern Mary: Bringing the historical drama of political ambition, sexual jealousy and spiritual redemption. Queen of Scots to the 21st I am directing modern playwright Peter Oswald’s new version which features a muscular and direct english and uses both prose and poetry to dynamic effect. The Century historical Mary Stuart has always captured the imagination even while she was 12 Tackling Schiller: An Interview still alive. When Schiller began to work on his play, Mary was thought of in popular with Director Kyle Lemieux lore as a kind of second Helen. The Mary of our imagination is the Mary that exists 14 Behind the Scenes: An Interview in Schiller’s play, but no less so than Elizabeth, who by 1800 in Germany also had with the Designers mythic status as a ruler- “The Virgin Queen”. In this intermixing of both historical fact and myth, Schiller’s extraordinary play comes to new, thrilling life. 15 Upcoming Events at the MJT Producing any play presents unique challenges. Producing a period piece of the scale and scope of Schiller’s Mary Stuart requires near heroic efforts, beginning with the two gifted actresses playing our queens, Zeina Masri as Mary and Maria Hotovy as Elizabeth. Our costume and scene shops have been working diligently University of Dallas Drama Department since the scorching days of August to bring Schiller’s play to vivid life. I remain in OnStage awe of both our shops which, semester after semester, produce work at such a Volume 1 #1 high level, and my colleagues Susie and Will who tirelessly lead our student-run Editing Staff shops which execute their designs. Editor in Chief: This fall, in addition to Mary Stuart we have an exciting line-up of Senior Studios, Alonna Ray led by seniors Simon Lemaire (Flowers for Algernon), Esther Sequeira (The Count- ess Cathleen), and Stephen Thie (Wanda’s Visit). Working under the mentorship of Layout Design: Beatrice Dowdy Professor Novinski, I’m sure you’ll find the Senior Studios both diverse and satis- fying. Contributing Writers: Claire Joyce Finally, keep your eye out for the productions in our After Hours Series: your op- Angela Simon Beatrice Dowdy portunity to see what our student-artists have been wrestling with intellectually Alonna Ray and emotionally in their work. Olivia Genusa Photographers: Paulina Martin Gabriela McCausland Cover Design: John Wilson Kyle Lemieux Editor: Chair, Drama Department Matthew Brumit 2 the pawn of the pro-France and pro-Catholic party, then she be- The Life and Times comes a pawn of the Presbyterian Church. And then she’s the pawn of her men.” And then there is the political unrest between the Catholic and Presbyterian Churches as each vies for political of Mary Stuart power and control over the State’s religion. Mary’s life consist- ed of misfortune after misfortune, and then, in the moment she by Alonna Ray finally sought aid and refuge, she was locked away and held in captivity for the last twenty years of her life. Centered on the final days of the infamous Scottish Elizabeth, meanwhile, was in her own state of turmoil. During her reign (1559-1603), England was not a particularly strong queen’s life, Friedrich Schiller’s Mary Stuart takes on a tumultuous period in the English Monarchy. In 1587, Mary Stuart, granddaughter of Margaret Tudor and great-niece of Henry VIII, had been a prisoner of her cousin Elizabeth I, Queen of England, for almost twen- ty years. She had recently been convicted for her alleged involvement in the Babington Plot, a plan to assassinate the English queen. In Schiller’s play Mary steadfastly claims that she is not guilty of the Babington plot, but historical evidence remains ambiguous and historians disagree about her involvement to this day. Schil- ler dramatizes the tenuous conflict between these two powerful women, but also shows the difficulties they faced within their own spheres. The acts of the play alternate between Mary’s im- prisonment at Fotheringhay and Elizabeth’s struggles as a female ruler in a patriarchal court. By showcasing the difficulties that each of them faced, Schiller's play suggests that, though Eliza- University of Dallas Drama Department beth did sign the death warrant for Mary’s potentially unjust exe- OnStage cution, their relationship was not simply that of a tyrant and her Volume 1 #1 victim. In order to shed more light on these events, Dr. Francis Swietek, Associate Professor of History and resident expert on Editing Staff Tudor and Stuart reign, delved into the rich history that led to the execution of the Scottish queen. Editor in Chief: Alonna Ray Though Mary was born and raised in a life of luxury, Swietek de- Layout Design: scribed her life as far from easy. At age five she was sent to the Beatrice Dowdy French Court and was married to the Dauphin, Prince Francis II at age fifteen. After her husband’s premature death, she re- Contributing Writers: turned to Scotland, claimed her birthright as queen there, and Claire Joyce began to make a multitude of grave mistakes, primarily related Angela Simon to her marriages and supposed affairs. She married Lord Darn- Beatrice Dowdy ley, who produced for her an heir but treated her horribly. After Alonna Ray the mysterious murder of her second husband, her next mistake Olivia Genusa was marrying the very man who had conspired to kill him, James Photographers: Hepburn, Earl of Bothwell. In 1567, she was imprisoned by her Paulina Martin half-brother, James Stuart, Earl of Moray, but was able to escape, Gabriela McCausland fleeing to England in hopes of being protected by her cousin, the English queen. Upon entering England, however, she was placed Cover Design: under house arrest immediately and kept in northern England for John Wilson the remainder of her life. Swietek describes her as a rather pa- thetic character, having always been a pawn: “She was the pawn Above: Zeina Masri as Mary Stuart and Emily LaFrance as Hanna Editor: of her mother, who married her off to Francis. She was a pawn Kennedy in rehearsal. Above Opposite: Maria Hotovy, playing Queen Matthew Brumit of the French court. Then when she gets to Scotland first she’s Elizabeth, talks with Director Kyle Lemieux. 3 country: there was constant fear that the “What Mary did was to crystallize the anti-Elizabethan senti- Spanish Armada would attack, and fac- tions had broken out that, according to ment among English Catholics. She became the focus of any Swietek, either wanted to “Presbyterian- ize the Church … [or] undo the Anglican conspiracy no matter how ridiculous… simply because she Church entirely and return England to Ca- tholicism.” Elizabeth sat on a throne that was the one who would naturally have replaced Elizabeth.” had formerly only been occupied by men, and the Privy Council was constantly trying to sway her opinion the lines of her father [Henry VIII].” But, in doing so, she greatly and promote its own agendas. Elizabeth was already struggling angered English Catholics, who became a great danger to her. to “find her way through all these labyrinthine problems,” as Swietek described them, in order to stay afloat as the monarch Elizabeth was excommunicated by Pope Pius V, who then called of a country which seemed to be in a constant state of turmoil. for her to be overthrown. Subsequently, radical Catholic groups Then, amidst all of this calamity, she winds up with, as Swietek began to plot her assassination. Whether or not the Scottish put it, “a hot potato who had to be dealt with.” Mary had fled to queen actually had any involvement in these assassination plots, England seeking refuge, but she had brought with her a whole Swietek stated, “What Mary did was crystallize the anti-Elizabe- slew of problems that Elizabeth had no desire to deal with. As than sentiment among English Catholics. She became the focus soon as she appeared on the scene, the Privy Council began of any conspiracy no matter how ridiculous…simply because she pushing for her execution, yet Elizabeth avoided this at all costs was the one who would naturally have replaced Elizabeth.” The and put it off for as long as she possibly could—for, as Swietek play presents Schiller’s opinion that she was innocent of actual stated, “If you kill one Queen, why can’t you kill another?” She involvement in these crimes and that her alleged letters during was terrified that this act of regicide would damage her already the Babington Plot were merely forgeries. Dr. Swietek cautioned precarious position on the throne. against taking such a black and white view, however, stating, “I think it is a mistake to take this as some sort of cut and dry thing On top of all of these struggles endured by both Queens, their where Elizabeth is the villain and Mary is the heroine…you have lives were complicated further by the religious unrest of the to try to understand the problems that each of them are facing.